


Lup Didn't Know That They Had Lost Their Memories

by lemonsandbullshit



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, IPRE
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 17:54:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12237795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemonsandbullshit/pseuds/lemonsandbullshit
Summary: Lup was gone by the time Lucretia put her plan into action and erased everyone’s memories with the help of Junior. besides, she was already a lich by the time Lucretia went through with it, so she wouldn’t have lost her memory anyway.bit by bit, Lup tries to piece together exactly what's going on with the people she loves most in the world





	Lup Didn't Know That They Had Lost Their Memories

-consciousness did not come easily at first. she had to figure out who she was, where she was, and how she got there. her grasp on her own mind slipped easily from her, but she was determined to exist. after that, she slowly managed to regain all her senses. this collected information inspired a desire to manifest physically. it took a lot of practice, and a lot of time, but she had the patience. she succeeded in giving herself a body, and she decorated it fondly. she could manifest the body for weeks at a time as long as she meditated regularly

\-----

-she’s meditating when they enter the hall. she hears two figures shuffle over to her and begin inspecting her skeleton and robe. she ignores them in favor of her meditation until her curiosity gets the better of her. these are the first people to get this deep into Wave Echo Cave since she locked Cyrus Rockseeker in his own safe

-leaning over her body are Merle... and Taako. she is so shocked and happy and confused that she totally loses her composure, her physical manifestation dissipating instantly

-pulling herself back together, she jumps and waves and yells. she knows she can’t get their attention but she tries anyway. tears are streaming down her face, but something is nagging at her

-the robe. why don’t they recognize her robe? their beloved uniform, the symbol of the family they were and still are

-finally Taako speaks, and his voice fills her with a love so overwhelming she forgets about the robe. “There’s a guy over here with a cane. Uh, excuse me, whichever one you are, the dwarf, there’s a cane here to look at.” her mind reels. “the dwarf”? as if he hasn’t spent so much time with Merle he could draw him with his eyes closed?

-the thought is gone from her mind as Merle reaches for the handle of the umbrella. she yells and screams at them, her throat going raw. _Taako! what the fuck, pick up my umbrella!_ Merle grabs the handle and she yells again, accidentally throwing him backward across the room. her attention shifts from her twin for an instant, a laugh bubbling up in her chest at the sight of Merle’s shocked expression

-Taako grabs the umbrella and Lup can feel it, can feel the hollowness in her chest filling in as her heart is returned to her. she whoops and laughs, letting the joy flow through her body, into the heavy curtains, and out. red lightning crackles over Taako’s arms as she rejoices

-and then... nothing. she waited to hear him say her name, to turn to Merle and say that this belonged to Lup and they finally had a clue to finding her. it didn’t come. there was no understanding of what just happened, no recognition of her signature red lightning, nothing.

-her body dissipates again and she knows she’ll need serious focus to bring it back again. but the energy from her show of joy was so much and she needs to rest... her consciousness begins to slip

-“oh hey, nice umbrella!” she feels a sleepy warmth soak through her at the sound of Magnus’s voice, but there’s still something missing. he doesn’t recognize her umbrella either. why not?

-her consciousness recedes to a small hum. she’s still there, still aware of her own mind, but it will take her a minute to regain her senses and body

\-----

-Taako holds the umbrella up to the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet and she can feel it next to her, the Light inside calling out. she’s still too exhausted to form a body, but she focuses on regaining her hearing and sight and surveys the scene

-did Magnus... high-five the gauntlet? if she had a body, she would laugh

-she missed them so much

\-----

-”He’s going for Barry Bluejeans, you guys. He’s gonna go pick up his teammate.”

-Barry is alive oh thank god Barry is alive

-he would still be fine if he was dead but he always preferred his body to his lich form

-something is still wrong here. the way her friends are speaking to each other is so stiff. and Magnus used Barry’s full name as if- almost as if the three of them don’t know him. why the accusatory tone? why would it be so bad for him to be working with Gundren to retrieve her Gauntlet? if anyone could be trusted with the Gauntlet, it would be Barry

\-----

-she hears him yelling and her heart breaks. Barry is in danger, helping everyone else before himself, as always

-he runs out of the bar and she’s overwhelmed. there he is! her beautiful, patient, chubby, smart, dopey boyfriend. in his body! just as she hoped

-she watches as his eyes flick in panic

-and then she watches her friends calm down the enraged Gundren. and she realizes she’s been tense this whole time, waiting for the Gauntlet to overpower him and destroy another city and even more lives. but her friends are doing so well. Merle is talking so lovingly to him, talking about their... cousins? he’s talking him off the ledge in the same way he has done so many times for his IPRE family members, listening and empathizing and reminding them what matters

-Kurtze shatters the calm and before anyone can react, Gundren kills Barry. _no!_ Lup cries, but it’s too late. she sighs heavily. at least they can be liches together

-her friends get to safety but Lup can hear Gundren terrorizing the city above them. she shrinks into her lowest form of consciousness. she should be watching the destruction she knows she has caused, but she just can’t handle it right now. she shuts it out and rests

\-----

-she rests for a short while, too exhausted to do anything but listen. even then, the sounds come through fuzzy and disjointed. the words don’t connect and she can’t string along any sentences. she does, however, pick up on an elegant violin song, a solo piece that dredges up feelings of joy, grief, and longing. she focuses her hearing as it plays, but drops back into muffled nonsense once it ends. there’s a raw, open feeling in her chest

-she doesn’t focus her hearing again until she hears something that shocks her, another voice so close to her heart that she aches at the sound of it. she focuses her sight and sees her best friend, looking regal and mature... too mature. why does she look so old?

-”Welcome, the three of you, to the Bureau of Balance. It’s a pleasure to have you. I’ve heard a lot of great things about your performance from Killian. Before we go any further I’m going to need you to hand over the gauntlet so we can destroy it promptly.”

- _Bureau of Balance. heard great things. destroy it._ Lup’s mind reels.

-she freezes mid-thought as Lucretia calls out their captain’s name

-and there he is. his small frame, his messy hair, his mustache. he stands in front of them all, cheerful and goofy and vacant-eyed

-they don’t recognize him. Magnus, Merle, and Taako just look at him. they have no idea who he is. Lup wants to scream. what’s wrong with him? what happened to Davenport?

-”And excuse me madam, what is your name?”

-it wasn’t in her head. her friends don’t know each other. or maybe they don’t-

-”That’s actually classified.”

-it all falls into place. why would she hide her name unless she knew more than them? it was Lucretia, it was all Lucretia. she used Fisher on them and hid them all from their histories and from each other. and Lup... did she erase Lup? even from Taako?

-her heart sinks and a wave of exhaustion washes over her. she’ll have to figure out the details later, of who know what and why Lucretia did this to them. but as she slips away again, she reaches out with her mind and tries to communicate one last thing

- _Lucy, baby, what have you done?_

\-----

-Lucretia notices the umbrella in Taako’s hand and feels her stomach clench. she knows already that Taako will never forgive her for what she’s done, but at least he has this part of her now  


-as she stares at the umbrella, her hair on the back of her neck prickles. she’s not a superstitious person, always much too logical for that, but she knows- this is a sign from Lup herself

**Author's Note:**

> sorry this is super sloppy (especially at the end, I got tired), but this idea has been kicking around in my head for days and I didn't want to put in the effort to sit down and write an actual whole thing about it
> 
> has anybody else realized this though?? that Lup logically wouldn't know that their memories had been wiped? I haven't seen anything in the fandom about it but there's no explanation for how she knows
> 
> anyway, feel free to use this idea to write something legit, but credit me I guess? I'm still a little unclear if I'm the first person to do this Lup-figures-it-out thing


End file.
